By Christy Barr, Free Time, June 1999

The first lifeguards in Wildwood were not hired by the city, but by hotel and bathhouse owners in 1895 who were anxious to provide safety to bathers. It wasn’t until 10 years later, in 1905, that the borough of Wildwood took over the job of hiring lifeguards for its beaches, hiring John Wick and Daniel Briggs as the first two public lifeguards.

Holly Beach followed suit two years later, in 1907, with the hiring of Frank Grapewine for $50 a month. During the winter of 1909, Holly Beach discussed the need to hire a beach patrol, and that summer hired four lifeguards.

In 1912, Holly Beach and Wildwood passed a resolution enabling police to hire seven guards and more if neccesary. Petitions requesting additional guards circulated in 1915–1916 and Wildwood added 15 more men to their staff. The size of the beach patrol continued to grow from there. North Wildwood and Wildwood Crest, however, were a few years later in hiring their lifeguards.

It was July 1914 when Mayor Harry Hoffman appointed the first beach patrol in North Wildwood. The patrol then continued to grow each year and today consists of 65 men and women. As for Wildwood Crest, the first beach patrol there wasn’t until the late 1900s or early 1920s. Today’s Wildwood Crest Patrol numbers around 80 men and women.

The rescue equipment used by lifeguards has gone through many changes throughout the years. The rescue buoy is the most popular piece of equipment used by lifeguards and has undergone many changes throughout time. “The buoy started out as a tin can then changed form to a diamond shape made from cork and canvas,” said Buddy Johnson. “From then it was modified to fiberglass and rubber, but it remained diamond shaped for some time.”

The rescue equipment used by lifeguards has gone through many changes throughout the years. The rescue buoy is the most popular piece of equipment used by lifeguards and has undergone many changes throughout time. “The buoy started out as a tin can then chabged form to a diamond shape made from cork and canvas,” said Buddy Johnson. “From then it was modified to fiberglass and rubber, but it remained diamond shaped for some time.”

A lot of guards referred to the buoy as the “triangle can.” When going out to the stand, that was basically the only equipment the lifeguards had. “All we had was a triangle can, they called it a buoy. We had very little equipment,” said Bob Starr, a former North Wildood Beach Patrol member from 1946 to 1947.

“We were issued with very little equipment,” said Palmer, who watched the beaches from 1965 to 1995. “The buoy was really it.” Around 1985 the plastic torpedo buoy was introduced, which was significantly lighter and more streamlined. “The old buoys weighed about 20 pounds, and todays lifeguards use the torpedo which weighs only a few pounds,” said Cavalier.

The torpedo may have the advantage of weighing less, but it has the disadvantage of being able to support fewer victims. “The old buoy could hold three or four people, but the torpedo is basically a one–on–one operation,” said Palmer.

As for boats, Johnson said they were always a part of lifesaving, just not in great supply. “We had maybe one or two boats made out of wood that were very heavy,” said Johnson. Today, almost every beach has their own boat, and the boats, now made of fiberglass, weigh a lot less than they did in earlier years.

Back in the early 1980s the rescue board was introduced. The rescue board resembles a long surfboard, only more buoyant and stable. The can be used to paddle out quickly through the surf and carry victims in from the ocean. Some other equipment beach patrols are now using include waverunners, ocean kayaks and jetboats.

Along with equipment, the lifeguard uniforms have undergone drastic changes as well. The first uniforms were one-piece tank suits made out of wool, so when they got wet they stayed wet. Because wool is itchy, the suits caused the men to break out in rashes. “We all had rashes from the uniforms,” said Starr. The wool, fortunately, wasn't long-lived. As materials changed throughout the years, so did the lifeguard uniforms. “They became made out of mesh, which was lightweight and dried quickly. Then they were made out of canvas because it held up a lot better,” said Johnson.

The uniform changed from a one-piece tank suit in the ’40s to a three-piece outfit in the ’60s. “It came in three pieces – a tank, a shirt, and trunks,” said Palmer. “They did the job to identify us as guards, but were not the nicest.”

The traditional colors of Wildwood Beach Patrol’s uniform was red and white. In the 1980s and early 1990s, the colors extended to include bright yellow. Today, it’s red and navy blue.

Lifeguarding in the old days was very different than lifeguarding today. The pay was less, and the problems different.

The first lifeguards received $50 a month for their services. Back in 1946, that pay was raised to $22.50 a week, or $90 a month. But for the amount of time they put in, lifeguards were underpaid, even by the standards of the ’40s.

“We worked seven days, from 8:30 or 9 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. for $22.50 a week, which even then was little money. We were paid poorly,” said Starr. Indeed, if you look at the 59.5 hours the guards worked a week, the hourly rate was 38 cents.

In the ’60s, the pay increased tp $60 a week for a six-day week from 9:30 a.m. until 5:30 a.m. the hourly rate thus being raised to $1.25. It wasn’t until the early ’90s when the pay rate for lifeguards began to rise.

“Wildwood wasn’t getting a lot of guards because Ocean City and Atlantic City paid more so they had to raise the salary,” said Palmer. “I would say that my salary nearly quadrupled from the time I started (1965) when I ended (1995).”

Today guards work only a six day week and make anywhere from $7 to $10 an hour. Patrols were also smaller in earlier years. In 1946 the patrol of North Wildwood had only 14 men on it. Today it has 65.

“We had single man stands, just one man to a stand,” said Starr. Today, nearlt every stand has two guards.

Palmer said that there was less sand on the beach when he first started guarding. “We used to have to drag the stand under the Boardwalk because the water was so high on the beach,” he said. “Many of our rescues were made under the piers.”

Ways of communicating between the guards has also changed. Back in the ’60s, Palmer said, guards had to send a series of flag signals down the beach if they needed help. “You had to hope the signal kept going and didn’t get messed up or you would be out there alone,” he said. Today all a guard has to do is jump on the radio and call for help.

Starr said despite the lower pay and less equipment, he would have rather been a guard in the ’40s than today. “The beaches were not too crowded back then and it wasn’t rowdy like it is today. People were friendlier and you got to meet a lot of them,” he said. “Things have changed a lot since 1946.”

It was in 1925 when the beach patrols first had a place to call headquarters. The Wildwood Beach Patrol, deciding that better protection was needed for visitors, asked for a permenant hospital tent for each of its three wards. North Wildwood and Wildwood Crest soon followed suit. They asked that in each tent there be standard equipment, medical equipment, and equipment to clean the beaches.

The tents soon gave way to actual buildings, but the name stuck. “The building then (1946–1947) was called a tent, but it was an actual building, small, about the size of a one–car garage,” said Starr. “The headquarters is called the tent because that’s what it used to be and the name stuck,” said Cavalier.

Each of the ‘tents’ is now a two–story building complete with medical rooms, lockers, offices and shower facilities. Wildwood Beach Patrol’s new building was built in 1992.

Lifeguard competitions have become a popular form of entertainment on South Jersey beaches. Most beaches host their own competition every summer. Wildwood has hosted the Dutch Hoffman Memorials since the tournaments inception in 1965. ‘Dutch’ Hoffman was a former captain of the patrol.

North Wildwood’s Beschen–Callahan Memorial Tournament has been run since 1969. The races honor Jim Beschen and Mike Callahan, two former North Wildwood lifeguards who were killed while serving in the U.S. armed forces in Vietnam.

Wildwood Crest hosts the Cape May County Races, which began in 1984 and are usually one of the first to take place each summer. The races take place in front of their headquarters on Rambler Road in Wildwood Crest.

Information for this article was obtained at the George F. Boyer Historical Museum, located at 3907 Pacific Avenue, on the Holly Beach Mall in Wildwood.

© 1999 Free Time. Reproduced with permission. Return to top of page